A World Away
by Noteworthy87
Summary: The crew begins another case. The case looks like any other until they delve deeper and find that it will effect one of the characters forever.
1. Default Chapter

Title: A World Away Author: Me Feedback: Please! Archiving: Please ask me before you put this anywhere and use my title and use me as the author. Characters: I'm going to use Benson, Munch, Fin, Stabler, Cragan and a lot of the other regulars on the show. I'm also going to add a new character. Spoilers: None Rating: I'm thinking right now it's only a G, might change!  
  
"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."   
Olivia Benson was finally getting some much-needed sleep. When she drifted off into her dream world, things didn't seem so bad. Rapes and violence wore Olivia through. Even though she fronted as a tough cop, the job drained her and sometimes she even felt as if her heart and soul were also being drained out of her. BRRRING, BRRING. Olivia grabbed the pillow next to her and placed it over her head, "the phone would ring just as soon as I started to go to sleep." Olivia's voice sounded over the answering machine, "Hey! I can't get to the phone so leave me a message!" Beep! "Hey Liv, it's Elliot. We've got a hot case in the lower east side, if your there you need to pick up!" Olivia let out a small grunt as she reached for the cordless phone on her nightstand. "Benson." "Hey Liv, I guess you heard my message. We could really use your help in this one. A child was found in a dumpster near the Hill Street Bar, her mother was found about 5 feet from where the child was dropped, looks like she has some fluids on her." "Hill Street bar, that's right near my apartment, I'll be there in 10 minutes."  
Olivia dizzily dragged herself to her feet and went to the kitchen to put on some coffee, and then hurried back to her room to put on the clothes she had left draped over her chair only 4 hours before. Olivia ran her fingers through her brown highlighted hair and rushed to the kitchen. The coffee hadn't finished making yet but Liv grabbed a coffee mug anyway and pulled the coffee tub out of its port. As she was pouring, SSSSS, the remaining coffee flowed onto the counter, Olivia replaced the tub and rushed out the door.  
  
Lower East Side Hill Street Bar  
  
2:30 A.M.  
  
Olivia's car followed the flashing blue and red lights to the bar. She hopped out of her car and jogged feverishly across the street to the crime scene. She was met by her partner Elliot Stabler who led her through the crime scene, "none of the people in the bar heard or saw anything suspicious. But the bar keeper does remember serving someone that matches the victim's description, he doesn't remember her having a baby with her and she left by herself." The medical examiner, Melinda Warner, was knelt down over the body examining what looked like small pieces of cloth on the victim's arm. When she saw Elliot and Olivia approaching she stood up ready to present the case. "Our victim is short about 5'3 and blond. I've pulled a couple of fibers off the arms but we won't know more until I get her in a morgue."  
  
Morgue 3:21 A.M.  
  
Warner was waiting as Det. Tutuola and Det. Stabler stumbled into the bright morgue room. "What do we have?" Stabler asked, wishing he were Det. Benson. Olivia was aloud to go home after she had given her take on the crime scene. She had been aloud to go home because she had only gotten about two hours of sleep and she looked like she was about to pass out at the scene. "Okay well, the vic was sexually assaulted and beaten just as I had suspected at the scene. You see these lacerations on her face and to her lower abdomen? Well I found some paint chips in the cuts on her abdomen. I ran it through the computer and it is the paint that is commonly used on dumpsters like the one that was outside the bar where they found the baby. The bottom bracket on the dumpster was missing, we assume that was the murder weapon and since it was not found at the scene that the perp. took it with him or disposed of it in some way." Warner paused with a sympathetic and pitying look in her eyes, "if it wasn't enough that he raped and beat her he also slit her throat and both her wrists. This pervert was trying to make sure she was dead. I took a sample of her fingerprints, I should have gotten a match by now if there is going to be one." Warner sat down in a chair behind her and rolled over to her computer, she began to go through some extra data that was shown. As she finally got to the match her eyes widened. Stabler leaned over Warner, "what?" "The computer came up with a match, her name is Billie Lou Munch." 


	2. Poor Munch!

Laurie Bennet stumbled into her bedroom looking for her watch in the dark. She didn't want to turn on the lights and wake up her husband who laid in bed trying to sleep after a 10-hour shift at the fire department. Laurie stumbled over some shoes that her husband had kicked off when he got home and let out a quiet grunt. She wrinkled her nose as she leaned toward her husband to see if she had woken him, he still seemed to be asleep, so she continued her search. Finally, she spotted the watch on the nightstand next to her husband's side of the bed.  
  
She quietly tiptoed over to the nightstand and reached for the watch, before she could even realize what was happening she was gently jerked down onto the bed beside her husband, "What's all this noise? You know I worked a 10 hour shift woman!" He smiled as he kissed her nose, "What are you doing up so early? I thought I would have a good 2 hours in bed with you."  
  
"Oh don't you wish," she chuckled, "don't I wish, but the precinct called me downtown to the 16th."  
  
"Isn't that the Special Crimes unit?"  
  
"Yeah, I was surprised too, but it seems that one of their detectives has a personal connection to a very important case and they need someone who has a background with special victims to come down. Just happened to be me."  
  
"Be careful, baby, you know how those special vic detectives are. Strange."  
  
"Haha, and don't become one of them, is that what your saying, dear?" Laurie rolled her eyes and gave him a quick loving kiss; "I'll see you later!" Laurie got her keys and morning coffee and jogged to her car.  
  
16th Precinct SVU Squad room 6:30 A.M  
  
Olivia was finally feeling better as she walked through the doors of the old building where she worked that she had come to love and loath. As she made her way to her desk in the squad room she yawned and took a seat at her desk.  
  
"Ahhh, Olivia, good morning," Stabler declared sarcastically, as he stumbled into the squad room with dark circles under his eyes, "you look well rested."  
  
"I am, thank you. Do you have any leads on the case that we had last night?"  
  
Elliot paused, "yeah, she was a 5'3, blond."  
  
"That's it? I heard that last night, what's it been like 3 or 4 hours?"  
  
"Well, if you had let me finish, her name was Billie Lou Munch."  
  
Olivia looked up with question in her eyes as Elliot paused, "She was John's ex wife." John Munch was also a detective in the Special Victims Unit. Olivia knew he had been married only God knows how many times but she had never met any of his wives. "Oh my god, how is Munch?"  
  
"He took it pretty well considering everything, but I don't think we'll be expecting him back in anytime soon. I think Cragen called in another Detective to work in Munch's place. We really can't do anything until Fin, Cragen and the new detective get here."  
  
"I thought Fin was going with you to the coroners office?" Olivia grilled.  
  
Elliot sat down at his desk across from Olivia's, "He did but he decided to go home and get some sleep. I probably should have done the same but I don't know. How are you supposed to sleep after something like that?"  
  
After sitting in the squad room going over paperwork for another half hour Capt. Donald Cragen finally sauntered in accompanied by a woman about Olivia's height with blond hair. Elliot turned when he saw Olivia get up to meet the woman.  
  
"Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler this is.."  
  
Elliot interrupted, "Laurie Carmichael!"  
  
The woman's face lit up as Elliot came into view, "El, damn I didn't know you worked for the Special Victims!"  
  
"Carmichael?" Cragen asked with the look of question that was Olivia's sentiment exactly.  
  
"Well Elliot, I got married like 4 years ago. It's Bennet now." Elliot and Laurie were so caught up in the reunion that they forgot there was even anyone else there.  
  
"Oh, uh Laurie and I went to high school together. Laurie this is Olivia Benson, she's my partner."  
  
"Hi," Laurie responded with a positive smile and a handshake.  
  
"Well, now that we all know each other, let me get you caught up on the case," Cragen interjected.  
  
About the same time Fin walked into the squad room seeming about as depressed as Elliot had been a few minutes before. He had been the one that helped Elliot tell John Munch about the whole thing, truthfully he felt like shit. Even though he had gone home to get some sleep he hadn't gotten a wink.  
  
"Fin, it's about damn time," Olivia teased but stopped when she saw Fin's face and his wrinkled buttoned shirt.  
  
"Lets just get to the bottom of this please," he said despondently, as he finally took a look around at the group sitting in front of him.  
  
"Odafin Tutuola, this is Laurie Bennet, she'll be working with us until John gets back on his feet."  
  
Fin nodded toward Det. Bennet in response and glanced back at the board. Fin was in no mood for common courtesies he just wanted to catch the bastard who had caused his friend pain.  
  
"Well, the vic is a young woman in her mid 30's to mid 40's she worked at a bar in another part of town. We had the lab run the fluids we found on her and the DNA we found doesn't match anyone in the system and the fibers we found on her arms are pieces of latex coated in lighter fluid."  
  
"Lighter fluid?" Elliot asked when Cragen had finished, "what the hell would that be for? You think maybe he was going to try to set her on fire?"  
  
"We won't know until we get more evidence but so far all we can come up with was the fibers were soaked pre-crime scene because lighter fluid was not found on the scene," Cragen explained.  
  
"When my superior called me he mentioned a child being found at the scene. Did we find any evidence on the kid? Was that her child or do we know yet?" Laurie asked.  
  
"The child is definitely hers, but we don't know who the father is yet. We should know soon because we're going to have to question him at some point. When we find that out we'll know more but for now we're just down to the bear basics. We have no firm evidence and a bunch of clues that add up to nothing. So we need to get started, I'm going to send Elliot and Olivia to get the DNA results and the evidence that was found on the scene. Tutuola and Bennet, you go to the crime scene and see if you can find anything CSI missed and we'll all meet back here at 0800."  
  
*****  
  
Fin was not sure about this new detective. She seemed like the kind of person who was perky and friendly all the time and he didn't think he could take that right now. Fin was not a perky person, so he was pretty sure that this partnership would not work.  
  
As Det. Bennet put on her coat she walked over to Fin. "Alright Tutuola, looks like we're going to be working together, is there anything I should know about you, so I don't piss you off unintentionally?"  
  
Fin was a little taken aback by the bluntness of her statement but he respected someone who tried to respect him. "I'll let you know if you're pissing me off," he responded.  
  
"Likewise," Laurie replied as they walked through the front doors of the precinct into the cold New York air. "There is one thing you should know though," Laurie said trying to lighten the humor, "I like to drive."  
  
"Are you sure you even have your license yet?" Fin shot back crossly.  
  
"There's something we need to get straight right now. As long as we work together, there's going to be none of these little-girl-who-can't-take-care- of-herself ideas, all right. I'm 39 and big revelation I can drive cars and do whatever else you can do. If I were delicate I wouldn't have made it this far in the system, so hand over the keys Tutuola." Tutuola sighed, knowing he had lost and threw her the keys.  
  
Laurie got in the car and adjusted the seat so that her short legs could reach the pedals. As she did this she heard Fin snort in laughter. Laurie rolled her eyes and put him in his place, "Well not all of us were blessed with long legs," she paused as she looked at his legs. He was only slightly taller then her, "which is something I would think you would understand," she gave him a sarcastic smile as she turned the keys in the ignition and floored the gas. 


End file.
